This description relates to control of a cooktop heating element.
The temperature of a cooktop heating element is typically controlled by a so-called infinite switch. The user sets a rotary knob on the switch to indicate how hot (in a range from low to high) he wants the heating element to run. The switch cycles power to the heating element at a frequency determined by the knob setting. The power is cycled on and off by the expansion and contraction of a bimetallic strip that causes the strip to make and break a contact through which power to the heating element is passed. The switched power also passes through the bimetallic causing it to get hot while the contact is made and to cool while the contact is broken. Rotating the knob changes the amount of deflection required for the bimetallic strip to trip the contact.